Why College is Still Worth It

States have been shifting more and more of the cost of college to students and their
families. But a degree is still the passkey for the high-paying jobs of the future,
says Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz.

It isn’t as though Michigan Tech senior Joe Gallo doesn’t have a care in the world.
Like every college student in his final semester, he still has classes to attend,
homework to finish, and tests to take. But Gallo, who hails from Marquette, is more
relaxed than many seniors throughout Michigan—throughout the US, in fact—because he
already has a job lined up after graduation. A good job, with a $66,000 starting salary.
A job for the future.

Gallo, you see, is an engineering student, majoring in both mechanical and electrical
engineering. After he is handed his diploma in May, he’ll be headed to Clarksville,
Tennessee, where he’ll work for Hemlock Semiconductor Group, a subsidiary of Dow Corning.
The company produces poly-crystalline silicon, the raw material used in many semiconductors
and solar panels.

“I’m excited,” says Gallo. “I interned there this summer, and they treat their employees
very well. I’m happy to be going back. The work is interesting, and I feel like there
will be some job security, too.”

You don’t hear Gallo questioning the value of a college education. After all, he’s
a poster boy for the employability of graduates in the STEM (science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics) subjects. His experience also holds up by any national
measurement. In fact, the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ (NACE) Spring
2011 Salary Survey reports that engineering majors account for seven of the top 10
majors in terms of starting salaries. In terms of lifetime earnings, a groundbreaking
study, What’s it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors, from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, reports that
college graduates with an engineering degree earn, on average, $1,090,000 more over
the course of their career than someone with a high school diploma—the greatest economic
advantage of any field.

Gallo is just the latest Michigan Tech student to sign on at Dow Corning and Hemlock;
the companies already employ more than 250 University alumni. “The connection matters
a lot, “ he says. “The company believes that Michigan Tech gives us the education
they need.”

Nonetheless, rapidly rising college costs—four times the rate of general inflation
in the past twenty-five years, according to the National Center for Public Policy
and Higher Education—have caused many families to wonder if higher education is worth
the expense. Add to that the economic reality of shrinking employment opportunities
in a whole range of industries.

Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz says there is no question about the value of a
college degree. “A college degree has always been something that is personally rewarding,”
he says, “but the options it opens for career opportunities just don’t happen with
any kind of regularity without it. The problem with, say, skipping college and becoming
an entrepreneur is there is no backstop if you fail. A degree gives you a larger perspective
and helps you roll with the punches.”

Cost has become a big factor, however, with state cutbacks putting Michigan near the
bottom nationally in terms of state support for education. The net result is that
families are forced to shoulder much more of the burden than in the past. Still, “it’s
about more than cost,” says Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council
of the State Universities of Michigan (Mroz is chair of the Board of Directors this
year). “By the year 2018, most jobs in Michigan will require some form of postsecondary
education. We won’t have those workers if we don’t give more support to education.
It has a direct impact on state prosperity, and the politicians have to recognize
that.”

“It’s a completely different landscape of college funding than, say, ten years ago,”
adds Mroz. “In 2003, we were getting about $55 million from the state; we’re now getting
$40 million—about the same as 1968—and we have 2,500 or 2,600 more students than we
did then. The change in funding gives the impression that costs have gone up dramatically,
but it’s really a shift of the cost burden from the state to families.”

Why has the cost/benefit ratio of a college degree become such an issue? “One of the
dramatic results of the economic downturn is that high-pay, low-skill jobs are disappearing,”
says Mroz. “As the economy has begun recovering, there has been a change in the marketplace.
Employers are looking for graduates with more skills—STEM skills in particular.”

Can he quantify the value of a Michigan Tech degree? “You need to look at two things:
job placement rates and average starting salaries,” Mroz responds. “Our placement
rate for 2011 was 95 percent, versus 87 percent in 2010. The average starting salary
was $55,000 in 2011, versus $52,000 in 2010. The trend line is definitely in favor
of students who graduate from here.

“The students see what’s happening and talk about it all the time,” Mroz adds. “They
look at what the highest-paying degree programs are, and those tend to be the most
highly attended classes. If you are skilled in STEM areas, it makes a big difference.
STEM graduates are more in demand because there is a shortage of workers in industries
that require those skills. The marketplace is looking for the quantitative skills,
the empirical skills, the problem-solving skills, the ability to think critically
while doing some kind of financial or numerical analysis.”

Which brings us back to Joe Gallo. One of the additional attractions of Michigan Tech
was a high school pal named Carl Vonck, who graduated in 2011. Like Gallo, he majored
in engineering and had a job waiting when he graduated—with Dresseler Mechanical Inc.,
his family’s heating and air-conditioning business back in Marquette. But Vonck has
returned to campus because the hometown enterprise won the plumbing and HVAC contract
at Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center, and he is one of the project managers. Gallo
looks forward to seeing his friend and catching up over a burger. Then, he acknowledges,
they may arm wrestle for the check. After all, they will both have money in their
pockets.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university, home to more than
7,000 students from 54 countries. Founded in 1885, the University offers more than
120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering,
forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, and
social sciences. Our campus in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula overlooks the Keweenaw Waterway
and is just a few miles from Lake Superior.